PUNE: Maharashtra deputy CM Ajit Pawar expressed Tuesday regret over his decision to field his wife Sunetra Pawar against cousin Supriya Sule in Baramati during the LS polls. In an interview to a news channel, he said: “Politics should be kept away from family ties. I made the mistake of nominating Sunetra against my cousin in Baramati. I should have avoided it. NCP’s parliamentary board had already decided (to nominate Sunetra) and it could not be reversed. But now, I feel it should not have happened in the first place.”
Baramati, long considered a stronghold of the Pawar family, saw an intense electoral battle between the two NCP factions, with family members taking opposing sides. Supriya, daughter of NCP (SCP) chief Sharad Pawar, retained her seat defeating Sunetra by a margin of over 1.55 lakh votes. Following her defeat, Sunetra was nominated as an NCP Rajya Sabha member in July.
During the campaign, Ajit’s family found themselves isolated as most of the Pawar clan, including brother Shrinivas Pawar, sided with Supriya and Sharad Pawar. Shrinivas was notably critical of Ajit for splitting the party and falling out with uncle Sharad.
In response to Ajit’s remarks, Supriya said: “I was busy with our party’s Shiv Swarajya rally in Solapur and have not had the time to go through his statement. It will not be appropriate to respond to it without seeing it.”
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